Now that Isabel dos Santos, Africa’s wealthiest woman, has been named head of Angola’s oil company she could soon be headed for more power — but this time in politics, experts say. / AFP PHOTO / PUBLICO / FERNANDO VELUDO
Ranked as Africa’s richest woman by Forbes magazine, Isabel Dos Santos was given the job of chief executive of Sonangol in June, prompting 14 lawyers to file a lawsuit accusing the president of nepotism and violating Angolan probity law.
“The issue of my professional competence does not seem to be something reasonable,” she told reporters at the opening of a school funded by Sonangol. “To me this looks to be part of the political games ahead of elections.”
The Angolan Supreme Court asked the president last month to respond to an inquiry on his appointment of his daughter, court papers seen by Reuters showed.
